Idaho Governor Brad Little Vetoes Legislation that Seeks to Protect the Unvaccinated

Idaho Republican Governor Brad Little vetoed a bill on Monday that would protect the unvaccinated from the vaccine requirements imposed by business owners until at least 2023.

In his transmittal letter, Governor Little claimed that Senate Bill 1381 “significantly expands government overreach into the private sector.”

“I have been consistent in stating my belief that businesses should be left to make decisions about the management of their operations and employees with limited interference from government,” Gov. Bill stated in his letter addressed to the president of the Idaho Senate, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin.

“For the same reason, I sued to stop President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates three times, successfully challenging his unprecedented government overreach into the lives of American workers and the decisions of free businesses,” he continued.

Senate Bill 1381 passed by the House on March 18 with a 45-23 vote, two absent. The Legislature could override the governor’s veto; it would require a slim margin of one or two more votes in the House, per Idaho Capital Sun.

If the bill becomes law, the vaccine requirement for employees will be prohibited and violators will be punished with not more than a $1,000 penalty.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/03/idaho-governor-brad-little-vetoes-legislation-seeks-protect-unvaccinated/

Florida Teacher Worries He Can’t Discuss His Personal Love Life with Kindergarteners After Passage of Parental Rights Bill

A Florida teacher told MSNBC he worries that he can’t discuss his love life with his kindergarten class after Governor DeSantis signed the parental rights education bill.

There is no such thing as a “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed into law HB 1557, a measure that forbids instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity to children in grades pre-K through grade 3.

The left is angry that DeSantis is protecting children from groomers.

There is no reason why any adult should be talking about gender identity or sexual orientation to 5 year olds.

One Florida teacher said he’s worried that he can’t talk about his partner and personal life to his kindergarten class.

“It scares me that I am not going to be able to have these conversations with my children…I don’t want to have to hide that my partner and I went paddle boarding this weekend,” the teacher said.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/03/florida-teacher-worries-cant-discuss-personal-love-life-kindergarteners-passage-parental-rights-bill-video/

Russia blames US for cyberattacks

Moscow repels hundreds of thousands of cyberattacks every day, the Foreign Ministry has claimed

The US and its allies have put together a group of international “offensive cyber-forces” and unleashed them on Russia in response to its military offensive in Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow has alleged.

Russian government institutions, media outlets and critical infrastructure have been “subjected to powerful blows with the use of advanced information and communication technologies,” the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Hundreds of thousands of such attacks are being registered in Russia on a daily basis. They’re carried out by a sort of “offensive cyber-forces,” which were put together by the US at the suggestion of Kiev, it added.

According to Moscow, the “unprecedented scale” of the attacks suggests the operation is being conducted not only by Ukrainian cyber-units that are trained by the Americans and NATO, but also by “anonymous hackers and provocateurs” who answer to the backers of the Kiev government.

The statement said the actions of this “army of cyber-mercenaries” who are assigned special missions against Russia “border on open terrorism.”

The Russian agencies have so far been able to “effectively resist” those attacks, it added.

Such aggression against Moscow is going to lead to “grave consequences for its masterminds and perpetrators.” Those responsible for the cyberattacks will be tracked down and held responsible for their actions in accordance with the law, the Foreign Ministry warned.

Russia sent its troops into Ukraine in late February, following a seven-year standoff over Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French brokered protocols had been designed to regularize the status of those regions within the Ukrainian state.

Moscow has now demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it had been planning to retake the Donbass by force.

https://www.rt.com/news/552914-cyberattacks-ukraine-us-nato/

State Passes Bill That Could Jail People for 30 Days for Filming the Police

Frequent readers of the Free Thought Project know that filming the cops is not a crime. Despite this being a widely known provision — held up with multiple court precedents — cops continue to violate the First Amendment protected right of citizens to film the police. Last month, the Arizona House Appropriations Committee approved a bill that would criminalize filming cops on the job, dealing a massive blow to First Amendment rights. And this month, the Senate passed it.

It now moves to Governor Doug Ducey’s desk for signature, where it will become law.

Republican Representative John Kavanaugh, who is a former police officer, is the lead sponsor of the legislation. According to the bill, it is illegal “for a person to knowingly make a video recording of law enforcement activity, including the handling of an emotionally disturbed person, if the person does not have the permission of the law enforcement officer” and is within 8 feet of the cop.

Kavanaugh originally stipulated a 15 foot radius, however it was later amended after multiple objections. But for many, this is still too far.

As Valera Voce, points out, the law also classifies unlawful video recording of law enforcement activity as a petty offense, unless a person fails to comply with a verbal warning of a violation or has been previously convicted of a violation in which case an offense is a class 3 misdemeanor. A class 3 misdemeanor comes with a minimum of 30 days in jail. Finally, the bill explicitly declares that it “does not establish a right, or authorize any person, to make a video recording of a law enforcement officer.”

“It’s crazy thinking about that for a second. The video that led to the criminal conviction of the police officer who killed George Floyd would itself be a criminal act. And that makes no sense whatsoever,” attorney Dan Barr told FOX 10.

“We believe that this bill stacks the deck against the public check on officer misconduct,” Timothy Sparling, a lawyer and legislative advocate for Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week. Sparling argued that the bill leaves too much up to the discretion of the officers. “When officers have such wide discretion to determine, say, what is lawful conduct or what is unlawful conduct on the ground and that is not properly defined … it’s ultimately up to whatever the officer wants it to be,” Sparling said.

Indeed, it is, and this is a dangerous notion.

“Can you be arrested for standing still while wearing a GoPro under this statute?” asks T. Greg Doucette, an attorney who specializes in criminal defense and free speech law, according to Reason. “It seems the answer here is yes, which would violate the First Amendment (since standing still isn’t interfering with an officer’s duties).”

The sorts of proposals are “to chill speech, absolutely,” Doucette added. “It will empower cops to say, ‘I’m going to arrest you if you don’t stop.’ And even though many of those arrests would get dismissed as First Amendment violations, you’ll have a bunch of people who plead to avoid trial or go broke trying to vindicate their rights.” Those who violate the Arizona bill—which passed the committee 7–5 along party lines—would be subject to a 30-day jail sentence if he or she refused to stop filming after an officer demanded it.

What’s more, Barr says there are already laws on the books to prevent these kinds of problems, like getting arrested for interfering with an officer, and he’s right.

It is already illegal to interfere in police investigations. Yelling at cops or heckling them while they do their job can be construed as interfering and if it reaches a certain level to where it endangers the officers, it should probably not be tolerated.

But merely filming should never be considered a crime.

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/state-passes-bill-that-could-jail-people-for-30-days-for-filming-the-police/

Flight attendants sue CDC over mask mandate, ask court to prevent gov't from ever issuing such a mandate again

Nine flight attendants from six different airlines have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services over the federal mask mandate on air travel, claiming the measure is unconstitutional, ineffective, and harmful to their health and safety.

In the lawsuit, filed March 24 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, the flight attendants claimed the measure obstructs breathing over many hours and causes a litany of other health problems. Enforcement of the mandate also puts attendants in danger of retaliation from unruly passengers who refuse to comply, they added.

The plaintiffs also called the mandate "an illegal and unconstitutional exercise of executive authority," since it was enacted "without statutory authorization or following the rulemaking process required by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA)."

They urged a judge to vacate the Federal Transportation Mask Mandate effective immediately. Then they went even further, calling on the court to issue a permanent injunction prohibiting the CDC and HHS from ever issuing such a mandate again.

The suit comes as the large majority of states across the country have begun lifting mask mandates for most areas of public life. Air travel, however, remains one of the last sectors with an ongoing mask requirement. The FTMM, which was placed in effect on Feb. 1, 2021, has been extended several times, most recently until April 18, 2022.

That latest extension, issued March 10, served as the last straw for several in the aviation industry. Shortly after the extension was announced, 10 major airline company CEOs issued a letter to President Joe Biden demanding that his administration move on from the mandate. Around the same time, a group of pilots filed a lawsuit against the CDC over the requirement.

"Masks impair our health and reduce flight safety," Southwest Airlines attendant Victoria Vasenden of Reno, Nevada, who is one of the plaintiffs, said, according to KTVX-TV.

"We are in planes and airports up to 18 hours a day with zero chance of fresh air. Physicians don’t wear masks that long," she added. "That’s assault on the brain, organs, and tissues of the human body. Yet, we are expected to ensure all aspects of the flight remain safe when masks clearly diminish our capacities."

Another plaintiff, Alaina Trocano of Fort Myers, Florida, who works for American Airlines, added, "We’re supposed to ensure safety yet there are many of us who do not feel safe ourselves."

"Mask or be harassed. That’s not ensuring safety. That’s enabling hostility. Air travel should be the last place for conflict," she lamented in reference to the several on-flight skirmishes over mask policy adherence since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to Southwest and American, the plaintiffs in the complaint work for Allegiant, Delta, Frontier, and United. They come from six different states, as well.

The lawsuit is reportedly the 19th legal challenge filed against the FTMM but the first issued by flight attendants, who have effectively been commandeered by the federal government as enforcers of the mandate.

Neither the HHS nor the CDC have provided substantive comment to multiple local outlets reporting on the lawsuit. The CDC reportedly told KPHO-TV that it does not discuss pending litigation.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/flight-attendants-sue-cdc-over-mask-mandate

Matt Salmon Championed A ‘Foreign Propaganda Mission’ Run by the CCP

Salmon proudly defended the CCP's Confucius Institute program in 2018

Arizona gubernatorial candidate and former U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon championed the Confucius Institute during his time at Arizona State University, which has since been designated as a “foreign propaganda mission” by the U.S. State Department. Despite being referred to as a vehicle for the expansion of Chinese “soft power” by a member of the Chinese Politburo as far back as 2011, Salmon proudly defended ASU’s institute in 2018. “The answer is not to fold up and get rid of these kinds of programs. To me, the answer is to have more of this,” Salmon said.

Matt Salmon spent time on the International Relations Committee during both of his stints in Congress. During his two-term second stint, he chaired the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific before announcing his retirement in 2016. But before Salmon officially left Congress, he had already decided to join Arizona State University as Vice President for Government Affairs.

At the time, ASU was home to a CCP-funded Confucius Institute. According to the Chinese government, the project is merely a means to improve foreign relations and promote the exchange of Chinese culture. However, the program has been effectively halted in the U.S. after the State Department designated the Confucius Institute as a “foreign mission” of the PRC.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the institute “an entity advancing Beijing’s global propaganda and malign influence campaign on U.S. campuses and K-12 classrooms,” in a memo detailing the official designation in 2020. “Universities around the country and around the world are examining the Confucius Institutes’ curriculum and the scope of Beijing’s influence in their education systems. The United States wants to ensure that students on U.S. campuses have access to Chinese language and cultural offerings free from the manipulation of the Chinese Communist Party and its proxies.”

National security experts were sounding the alarm on the Confucius Institute long before the official designation, however. The PRC itself tipped its hand as to their objectives with the program as far back as 2011. In a 2011 speech at the Confucius Institute’s Beijing headquarters, Standing Politburo Committee member Li Changchun said: “The Confucius Institute is an appealing brand for extending our culture abroad. It has made an important contribution toward improving our soft power. The ‘Confucius’ brand has a natural attractiveness. Using the excuse of teaching Chinese language, everything looks reasonable and logical.”

In 2013, the late University of Chicago professor Marshall Sahlins highlighted the issues and dangers stemming from CI’s. While numerous countries fund similar programs, Sahlins laid out the key differences. For example, Germany’s Goethe-Institut, which fosters the teaching of the German language at universities across the globe, is a stand-alone institution situated outside university precincts. A Confucius Institute, meanwhile, “exists as a virtually autonomous unit within the regular curriculum of the host school,” Sahlins wrote. “There’s another big difference: CIs are managed by a foreign government, and accordingly are responsive to its politics,” he continued.

Confucius Institutes answer to the Beijing headquarters of the Chinese Language Council International, commonly known as Hanban. Although official documents describe Hanban as “affiliated with the Ministry of Education,” it is governed by a council of high state and party officials from various political departments, including Politburo members, Sahlins said in 2013.

https://nationalfile.com/matt-salmon-championed-foreign-propaganda-mission-run-by-the-ccp/

Kremlin Warns Biden's 'Emotional' Rhetoric Could Lead To "Something Irreparable & Dangerous" For Whole World

The US State Department earlier implied that Biden's weekend regime change comments saying that "butcher" Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power" were more based in "emotions" and not on official White House policy.

Russia has subsequently seized upon the perhaps dubious explanation and walk-back, with the foreign ministry expressing it hopes that Biden's "emotions will not lead to him doing something irreparable and dangerous for the whole world while under their influence."

Just prior to the weekend speech from Warsaw, Biden had called Putin a "murderous" and "bloody dictator" and "thug" - this also after last month the US administration imposing personal sanctions on the Russian leader.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov in follow-up said that while security dialogue is needed between Washington and Moscow, this window is rapidly closing due to "personal insults" from the US side, suggesting things could escalate to a more dangerous place.

"We really hear and see statements that are actually already personal insults against President Putin," Peskov said as reported in RT. Peskov further indicted that despite such "almost daily" insults, Russia would refrain from responding in kind so as to avoid unnecessary escalation of rhetoric, and to leave open the possibility of dialogue.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/kremlin-warns-bidens-emotional-rhetoric-could-lead-something-irreparable-dangerous

Biden Reveals The US Is Training Ukrainian Troops In Poland

President Biden appeared to reveal on Monday that the US is training Ukrainian troops in Poland. Biden made the comments when trying to explain a recent gaffe. In Poland on Friday, President Biden told members of the 82nd Airborne Division that Ukrainians were “stepping up” against the Russian assault and said, “You’re going to see when you’re there,” suggesting that the US soldiers would be entering the war zone.

Explaining his comments on Monday, Biden said, “We were talking about helping train the troops in — that are — the Ukrainian troops that are in Poland. That’s what the context.”

“I was referring to with — being with and talking with the Ukrainian troops who are in Poland,” he added.

When asked about Biden’s comments, a White House official told Politico that US troops are “interacting” with Ukrainian soldiers in Poland. “There are Ukrainian soldiers in Poland interacting on a regular basis with US troops, and that’s what the President was referring to,” the official said.

Since 2014, the US has trained Ukrainian forces, both openly and covertly. But since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, it hasn’t been clear if any training programs were still taking place. If the US is training Ukrainian troops now, it means they are being trained to kill Russian soldiers in the current conflict.

Before Russia’s invasion, the US pulled National Guard troops out of Ukraine and reportedly ordered CIA paramilitaries to leave the country. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reportedly told House lawmakers in February that the Biden administration was considering training Ukrainian forces remotely.

Biden had to explain other recent comments he made, including what appeared to be a call for regime change in Russia. On Saturday, Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.” The White House appeared to walk back his threat, but Biden doubled down on Monday while claiming the US is not following a policy of regime change in Russia.

https://news.antiwar.com/2022/03/28/biden-appears-to-reveal-the-us-is-training-ukrainian-troops-in-poland/